SRINAGAR: One more young man wounded during protests against Indian rule died Wednesday as thousands of troops enforced a rigid curfew for the 10th straight day in the troubled Indian-administered Kashmir, police said.There were no fresh street protests, a rare breather in almost daily protests.
However, the 20-year-old protester wounded in a street battle with government forces on Sept. 13 died in hospital in the main city of Srinagar, a police officer said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to reporters.
Kashmir has been rocked by deadly civil unrest since early June, with at least 107 people killed in protests and clashes with government forces - mostly teenage boys and young men in their 20s.
Human rights group Amnesty International has urged Indian authorities to investigate the killings and stop using lethal force against the demonstrators.
Last Friday, the government deployed the army for crowd control as protests by Kashmiris escalated in the region.
Thousands of armed troops enforced the round-the-clock curfew in Srinagar and other major towns in Kashmir on Wednesday. They put up razor wire and iron barricades and asked people to stay in their homes in announcements over loudspeakers fitted to their armored vehicles.
People were allowed to stock up on food and other items during a brief relaxation in the curfew on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, nearly 40 lawmakers from major Indian national parties concluded a three-day visit to the region on Wednesday.
Led by Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, the delegation came from New Delhi to find ways to address long-standing demands of Kashmiri Muslims for self-rule or a merger with a predominantly Muslim Pakistan.
Kashmiri separatist leaders met some of the lawmakers on Monday, but they dismissed the visit as grandstanding by the Indian government. – AP
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